


The Moment They Knew

by rhiannonsgypsy



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Fremione - Freeform, varchie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 10:16:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17526869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhiannonsgypsy/pseuds/rhiannonsgypsy
Summary: There's no getting around true love.





	The Moment They Knew

The moment that Archie knew was a quick and easy one.

He'd always been a pure and open soul, he knows what he feels the moment that he feels it. He's like his father in that respect. And, the very moment that Veronica Lodge walked into Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe and caught a glimpse of her ravel hair, sparking eyes, and time-stopping smile, he  _knew._ It was as simple as that. It was the very first time in his life that hearing the bells of Pop's door ring sounded like the rest of his life, and that told him everything that he needed to know.

As she stepped closer and closer, it was as if his whole body was put on hold. He couldn't feel every nerve, every muscle, every heartbeat of his body, and this was a new experience. To be so completely enthralled by a single look in a matter of seconds, it was something that he'd never planned on.

Archie had never been the sharpest tool in the shed. He'd never received a straight-A report card, he was no good with words, and he didn't always know what was best for him, but if there was one thing to be said about young Archie Andrews, it was that he had a knack for reading people. He could see things in them -  _true_ things - that they themselves couldn't comprehend.

And, in this beautifully mysterious stranger, he saw a gentle innocence in her that he hadn't seen in anymore else. He didn't even know her name. But, the words that Betty Cooper was speaking had been drowned out by the sound of his heart beating, and suddenly, he was smiling. A wide, childish grin that he didn't even know he could produce. And he couldn't stop.

The first time that he heard her voice, he could have sworn that it was the equivalent of a chorus of divine angels. If there was a word to describe Archie Andrews from the moment he met Veronica Lodge on, it was  _smitten._

Their seven-minute trip to heaven in Cheryl Blossom's closet only confirmed his suspicions. It was her. He'd found it, he'd found that thing that everyone in love is always talking about. But, their circumstances weren't idea. In fact, there were about a million things that kept them apart. Had Archie not known that Veronica was right, their relationship would crush his best friend, he would have begun their affair that very night and never let go of it. But, he couldn't do that, and neither could she.

That didn't mean that they couldn't have a friendship, however. When two people are meant to be in each other's lives, there was nothing that could prevent that. It was as if the very hands of fate kept Archie Andrews and Veronica Lodge attached to each other with some kind of invisible but unbreakable string.

Archie knew that they couldn't be together due to the fact that Betty was now  _both_ of their best friends. Veronica knew that they couldn't be together because she was far too closed off romantically to let herself open up to a boy like Archie who could provide her with genuine love.

But, they just couldn't stay too far away from each other. So, they walked home together. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, after they both respectively finished football and cheerleading practice. Betty would have joined them were it not for her mother always picking her up but refusing to drive any of her friends home.

But, Archie and Veronica didn't mind. As much as they adored Betty and loved spending time with her together, they cherished these short-lived but precious moments just the two of them. Walking through town as the sun went down, relishing in the silence, throwing their heads back in laughter, telling stories, and wishing that they could just inch slightly closer and intertwine their hands as they walked.

Even when he fell for Valerie Brown, even when he was kissing Cheryl Blossom, even when Betty Cooper confessed her feelings for him, it always came down to Veronica Lodge. She was the one person that Archie couldn't manage to keep off his mind. Through it all, he looked at her differently than everyone else. And it wasn't because she got more beautiful every day, it wasn't because they now had nicknames for each other, it wasn't because they couldn't have each other, it was simply because that's how it was meant to be.

Veronica met Archie's father by accident one evening. Archie usually walked the extra mile down to the Pembrooke with her so that she didn't have to finish the walk by herself even though his house was closer, but one evening, Veronica had been caught off guard by a sudden fit of coughing and Archie had insisted that they stop in at his house to get her a glass of water before they continued. Minutes later, their conversation continued as they sat across from each other at Archie's kitchen counter.

She knew that she should be getting home, she knew that she should be checking in with her mother, she knew that she shouldn't be spending extra time alone with Archie like this because it would be all too easy for her to fall into a deep pit of love with him. But, she stayed. Because, he made her laugh and didn't look at her as if she was just the corrupted daughter of a criminal. He made her feel like a real person, like she could finally get that fresh start that she'd always wanted.

And when Fred Andrews walked in on his son and a small, dark-haired, unfamiliar girl in the middle of a conversation in his kitchen that must have been simply hilarious due to the amount of laughter that they were each radiating with, he reacted as awkwardly as he always did.

"Oh, Archie... sorry," he began with a stutter, causing the two teenagers to look his way, "I didn't realize you had company."

Archie waved his dad away, he was always too quick to apologize. "Don't worry about it, Dad." Archie's smile never faded, in fact, in only grew wider when he turned to the girl beside him who now stood from her seat, clearly expecting to be introduced. Fred noticed this. He knew his sold like the back of his hand - this was a new kind of smile. "This is Veronica Lodge, she's new this year."

"Hi." Fred said with a smile as Veronica reached over and shook his hand with a warm smile of her own.

"It's really nice to meet you, Mr. Andrews." A strange feeling suddenly overcame Veronica. She wasn't used to being introduced to people - especially adults - who were simply  _good._ Who she could tell only by looking them in the eye that they didn't have a malicious bone in their body. She felt safe in this house, with these people who shared the same warm brown eyes and gentlemanly ways. She felt at home.

" _Lodge..._ " Fred suddenly put two and two together and Veronica nearly felt that feeling fade as she waited for Archie's father to hit her with some kind of prejudice against her father. But, those sharp words never came. In fact, Fred softened his eyes as the whirlwind romance that he'd had with the girl's mother came rushing back to him, "... you're Hermione's daughter? She mentioned that you were in Archie's grade."

Veronica nodded, grateful that Fred's recognition of her last name was due to her mother and not her father. "Yes,  _oh,_ I heard she was working for you!" Veronica remembered, hitting herself for forgetting. "it was very generous of you to give her that job, all things considered."

Fred shrugged, "It wasn't a problem. Just helping out an old friend." He shoved his hands in his pockets, downplaying his generous part. He had always had a hard time taking praise.

"Old friend?" Veronica questioned, suddenly intrigued.

Fred cleared his throat, suddenly feeling rather sentimental. Seeing Archie sit here with Veronica, the two of them may as well have been exact replicas of himself and Hermione at their age. The two young teenagers hadn't done anything that alluded to the fact that they were anything more than friends, besides, as far as he knew, Archie was still dating Valerie. And yet, Fred could tell by the air between them that one day they would inevitably be much more than that.

It made him happy to see that maybe the two of them could do what Hermione and him had failed to. It also hurt him to be faced with the reality that he truly had failed at keeping the woman that he loved in his life. And he didn't mean Mary. Though, he'd failed her, too.

"Yeah," Fred responded, turning away to get a glass of water of his own, "your mom and I go way back. We were even younger than you and Archie are when we first met."

Veronica smiled, "Well, I'd love to hear some stories that I'm sure you have about her, but speaking of my mother, I'd better go before she gets worried. My phone died earlier and I haven't been able to check in with her and let her know where I've been."

Archie nearly jumped out of his seat, racking his mind for yet another excuse to keep this raven-haired beauty in his presence for just a little while longer. "Do you want to stay for dinner?" He nearly pleaded, and his father saw right through him. Fred was worried that his son's eagerness might scare Veronica off, but to her credit, she only grinned.

She was about to agree, but remembered her manners and looked towards Fred, making sure that she wasn't overstaying her welcome. He had to say, for the daughter of a man like Hiram Lodge, Veronica wasn't nearly as ill-mannered and privileged as he'd expected her to be. She was utterly respectful to Fred, someone  _far_ beneath her, socially speaking anyways. "Yeah, that'd be great!" Fred responded before Archie's eyes popped out of his head as he tried to compel his father to say yes with only a look.

As if Fred had any interest in denying this lovely young lady a meal with him and his family. He liked Veronica. She seemed different. Police, cautious, generous with her smiles. She reminded him of her mother.

"I would love to!" Veronica said, hoping that Archie didn't notice that she was practically bouncing on her toes due to the excitement of his dinner invitation.

"I'll go give your mom a call and let her know where you are, Veronica." Fred said with a reassuring grin before leaving the room to do as he'd promised, secretly appreciating the excuse to have a conversation with Hermione.

"Thank you, Mr. Andrews. And thank you for letting me stay for dinner."

"Alright, Ronnie..." Archie began with a grin, moving around the kitchen counter to start on dinner, "... I hope you're down for pizza and soda. I know you must be used to eating a little better than that down at the Pembrooke, but pizza's the Andrews' house specialty." He teased, and Veronica took him by surprise by washing her hands and moving to help him with dinner. He knew that she probably had each and every meal cooked and prepared for her, the fact that she actually wanted to get her hands dirty and make dinner with him spoke measures.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Archiekins."

And, looking up at the redheaded boy as he grated the cheese and she sliced the peppers, Veronica realized that she felt more for him than she'd ever felt with anyone else before. That was the moment that she knew. Archie Andrews was the one that she was meant to be with.

How could that be? She was born into a life of luxury. Of private yachts and celebrity name drops, pampering, dates with boys who could afford to fly her to London for the night. Those were the things that, at one point, she thought that she needed to keep her happy.

How could that be the case if she felt more at home making pizza with Archie and Fred Andrews in their small kitchen while a friendly yellow dog lab cleaned up the food that they dropped than ever before in her entire life?

As they listened to a staticy radio playing classic rock hits, as Archie taught her the specific way that she had to slide the pan into the oven because the middle rack was broken, as they chased each other around the kitchen playfully with hand towels that they were twisting up and whipping each at each other. This wasn't the life that she was used to, it wasn't the life that her parents had allowed her to get used to, it wasn't rich with materialistic things and cold hard cash. It was rich with love and laughter and a true sense of family. The same kind of things that she felt simply by looking into Archie's honey brown eyes.

That wasn't the only thing that Veronica realized that day. She also realized that she was a stupid,  _stupid,_ girl. Because, if she had only opened her eyes and stopped hiding from everything that could have made her happy, she would have realized that she knew Archie was the one from the very moment that she walked into Pop's on her first night in Riverdale and met his eyes.

She  _knew._ But, she pushed that terrifying feeling away for fear of spoiling it. For fear that she didn't deserve someone with an adorable grin and innocent eyes and gentle hands.

Now, she knew better.

Archie Andrews and Veronica Lodge were meant to be together because, with each and every passing day, they learn something new from each other. Veronica learns how to accept herself as  _good_ and embrace those lighter parts of her life. Archie learns how to protect the people that he loves and stand up for what he believes in.

They would give their lives for each other. Veronica practically uses her own body to shield the love of her young life from the darkness that she is so familiar with and Archie does anything that he must to keep her safe from her own demons.

That's what they do, they protect each other.


End file.
